I just had to post about this documentary again because it is one of the best out there for promoting organ donation and CF awareness. Also, Eva was incredible. She was so vibrant it's almost impossible to believe her life has ended. But, you can still meet her here.

I found the perfect documentary for falling asleep to. It is about herding sheep in Montana. Sweetgrass.

90% of the film is silent with the exception of baas and bleats. It is just animal husbandry with gorgeous nature shots. If you are sensitive to some of the gross stuff that comes with that, it might not be for you, but for me it works.

THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH is the first in a three-part documentary series entitled 'Creating Freedom' exploring the relationship between freedom, power and control in Western democracies. The series draws together interviews with some of the world's leading intellectuals, journalists and activists to offer an alternative perspective on today's society and the future we're creating. We do not choose to exist, or the environment we grow up in. Our starting point in life is one of passive reliance on forces over which we have no control. THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH shows that from birth onwards our minds are a battleground of competing forces: familial, educational, cultural, and professional. The outcome of this battle not only determines who we become, but the society that we create.

If you haven't seen this documentary you should. We have discussed many, if not most, of the points raised, but I found it very impactful having it all in one place. It's also very well done from a filmmaking perspective, IMO

From a reviewer

Quote:

No art is politically neutral (a point the film itself makes repeatedly) and The Lottery of Birth is unquestionably a left-leaning political work, a point reinforced by the choice of speakers such as Tony Benn and George Monbiot and powerful quotes from the likes of George Orwell. The film challenges the viewer with the perception that much of the identity-forming process in modern western democracy is informed by the desire of government and business to keep people ill-informed and easily controlled and many persuasive historical and modern examples are given. http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2013/0...irth-2013.html

A Palestinian farmer from the occupied West Bank gets an old video camera to document his youngest son growing up. It turned into a documentary about the struggle of ordinary Palestinians in Bil'in against Israeli settlers and the military who seize their lands and destroy their olive trees.

It is a disturbing, shocking view at the lives of ordinary people in the occupied territories and you guys need to watch this. Right now.

Room 237 - A weird one this. It's a documentary about the numerous theories regarding the subtexts in Kubrik's The Shining. It's way too long and goes into excruciating details about every possible crazy theory. Seriously it's like reading Jerome's conspiracy theories all day long.

For example did you know that Kubrik filmed the fake moon landing in Hollywood and that he used the Shining to tell everyone? For example: in one scene we see the key in the door of room 237 and on the keytag we see: "ROOM No. 237". And what are the only two words that we can form with the capital letters "ROOMN"? Moon and Room! Moonroom! 237 was the stage where he filmed the moon landing! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

Anyway, it was still kind of interesting if totally ridiculous at times. So: 6/10

So after all those girl documentaries I needed to man up! So I watched the most manly of all documentaries!

The September Issue

Which is a documentary about the making of the September 2007 issue of Vogue mostly though about the editor in chief Anna Wintour.

I don't really know why I watched this as I have not even the faintest idea about fashion but I quite liked it. It's really well done and provides an insight into an otherwise strange and mysterious place: the world of fashion!

So ... if you feel all manly you should probably watch this!

SNEAK PEEK!!

Next up on my itunes rental list:

Armadillo - which seems to be a documentary about a Danish battalion in Afghanistan
In the Shadow of the Palms - Documentary about Iraq before, during and after the war

So I started with In the Shadow of the Palms and God, it's so depressing and outrageous it kept me awake tonight.

As I said it's an Australian documentary of Iraq prior, during and after Saddam's fall. It captures the day to day lifes of ordinary Iraqis and when you see what is currently going on in Iraq it leaves you helpless and furious. It's a total disgrace.

And then there's this one scene: After the first bombs, the team is present when Iraqis try to save a family from a collapsed house. They follow them to hospital where they film a little boy (maybe 7 or 8 years old) and his family. And you have to watch the kid die. Right in front of the camera. God damn it. Fucking outrageous.

This should be compulsory viewing. Especially in the "coalition" countries and even more so in the US and UK.

Fucking hell. Next up would be that Afghanistan documentary but maybe i should first inoculate myself by watching a dozen blockbusters first.

I've been on a multi-part BBC history documentary jag for a while now. My favorites have been Lucy Worsley, Simon Schama, and David Starkey (though it seems he's a big of a jerk IRL). I quite liked Lucy Worsley's Fit to Rule and Simon Schama's A History of Britain.

The other night, Mrs. ShottleBop and I watched a documentary about Gaudi. Not so much a "docu"mentary as a visual record of the buildings and projects he designed, with a little bit of a sound track (a lot of it, ambient noise). Nice.

I'm watching a documentary "World of Warships - Know Your Ship! - Yamato Class Battleship" - World of Warships - Know Your Ship! - Yamato Class Battleship - YouTube - and as usual I am very disappointed that the producers can't seem to get the film to match the nariation. In one segment the description was of the Japanese anti-aircraft weapons and they were showing film of US guns. Very disappointing. They should get someone to review the film that has at least a little familiarity with the appropriate weaponry. I have yet to see a WWII documentary that really gets it right with the film matching what the nariation is about. It seems like the producers think they can plug any film in to the show and it doesn't matter if the film actually matches the dialogue.

__________________The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you donít know anything about. Wayne Dyer

I am now watching this one World of Warships - Know Your Ship! - Deutschland Class Panzerschiffe - YouTube and as usual they are using film of the Battle Cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and not the pocket battleships. At least I was spared hearing how wonderful the design of the ship was, when in truth it was one of the worst wastes of steel of the 2nd world war. That tonnage could have been better spent on faster, longer legged, 6" gun cruisers. U-Boats sank merchant ships with their 4" deck guns, 11" guns were not necessary to sink a merchant ship. The only legitimate use of large guns was to engage other warships. So their stated and intended purpose was at odds with their design.

__________________The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you donít know anything about. Wayne Dyer

Saw a documentary on netflix called Punk in Africa which was about punk in Africa. Well, South Africa. And then in the end there was one band from Mozambique and one and a half from Zimbabwe (one was half South African, half Zimbabwean). But it was pretty cool. It had the Kalahari Surfers and Fokofpolisikar and a lot of bands I had never heard of.

This is the Zimbabwean band, Evicted. It's more a fusion of Zimbabwean pop music and punk, really.

I've been meaning to say something about Jodorowsky - I watched "Holy Mountain" and I didn't know exactly what to make of it. It's trippy and weird, and I both liked and hated it.

I heard about this from a recent "The Flop House" podcast episode. Jodorowsky, after initial successes, was offered anything he'd like to do, and he chose Dune. Jodorowsky had a grand vision about what he was planning to make and assembled a team of "warriors" to make it. He produced a book which was filled with details about the story, the design, the characters, everything. It was, essentially, the movie in book form. They produced it to show the Hollywood executives what the movie would be and how it would work.

I would love to get a copy of that book. It'd be ridiculously expense to produce, but it sounds fascinating to read.

Even though this movie was never produced, it's influence is significant. The people who help Jodorowsky produce the content in the book are significant modern film influences. There were ideas in the book that were reworked for other epic Science Fiction movies, like "Star Wars" and especially "Alien" - HR Giger and Dan O'Bannon worked together first on "Dune."

A documentary about Snoop Dogg's spiritual pilgrimage to Jamaica and his reincarnation as Pop Reggae artist Snoop Lion. It's not that this is a bad documentary but I never could shake the feeling that it really is merely an overlong commercial for Snoop Dogg (or Lion) and that his interest in the Rastafari is not (or not only) spiritual.

Still, it's an interesting glimps into the life of an interesting man.